Spoken Word Recognition in Prelingual Cochlear Implanted Children using Full Spectrum Continuous Stimulation

Aims & objectives: Cochlear implant (CI) is established as an accepted treatment for children with congenital bilateral severe to profound hearing loss to attain listening and develop speech and language skills. Children who receive Cochlear implants improve their quality of life and also improve their families’ quality of life through enhanced communication skills with them. The study was aimed at documenting the status of speech perception in children post-cochlear implantation using full-spectrum continuous stimulation.Material and Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 19 children who have had unilateral cochlear implantation. Speech Recognition thresholds & Word Recognition Scores through picture identification using 20 common monosyllabic and disyllabic word lists were evaluated. “Revised Category of Auditory Performance (Revised CAP)” scores were taken on set time frequencies of pre-switch on, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months & 12 months post-implantation. Sound field-aided thresholds were measured before speech audiometry testing. Monosyllabic and disyllabic words lists consisting of 50 common word categories such as kinship terms, fruits, transport, and vegetables were included and validated by five audiologists and speech-language pathologists on Likert scale of the “level of acceptability”. The outcomes of speech recognition performance based on speech recognition threshold and word recognition scores at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months & 12 months post switch on were documented.Results: Auditory Verbal Therapy resulted in improvement in the Revised CAP, Aided Threshold, Speech Recognition threshold and Word Recognition Scores of children over time. The implantees showed better improvement with respect to speech perception. The children implanted more than five years of age showed a significant improvement over the time with a continuous electric analog signal.Conclusion: Intensive rehabilitation for children having undergone cochlear implantation in which their individual and optimal needs should be considered and is necessary to achieve the best results. The study indicated that the speech perception of the children improved over the period of time with a cochlear implant device. Cochlear implant stimulation with continuous electric analog signal is a novel and considerable approach in the pursuit of cochlear implants.